The present invention relates to medical devices and their manufacture. More particularly, the present invention relates to patient monitoring devices and methods.
Patient monitoring systems measure, display, and sometimes store physiological data. Patient monitoring systems are now used in a wide variety of applications. This includes, for example, hospital, ambulatory, and home health care. Hospitals routinely measure and analyze the vital signs of surgical, trauma, and other patients from admission through discharge. There are many different types of monitoring devices. For example, there are monitoring devices for blood pressure, body temperature, heart activity, blood gases, cholesterol, glucose, pulse rate, respiration rate, tissue oxygen saturation, and many other parameters.
Noninvasive monitoring devices fulfill an important role in assessing, tracking, diagnosing, and treating patients. These devices enable early diagnosis, treatment of acute conditions, and reduce the need for invasive interventions. Some types of monitoring devices gather patient data via sensors attached to the patient.
In order for the sensors gather accurate information, it is important that they are protected from outside interference. They should also be comfortable for the patient to wear as the sensors may be attached to the patient for long periods of time. Furthermore, anything that touches or comes near the patient must be sterile. Thus, sterility is also a concern. These are just a few examples of desirable features.
There is, then, a continuing demand for medical devices that are easier to use, safer to use, usable in locations outside the hospital, provide more features, and generally address the needs of patients, doctors, nurses, clinicians, first responders, and others in the medical community.
Therefore, there is a need to provide improved systems and techniques for monitoring patients.